In the US it appears, working for the big wig companies anyways, that you do 12-13+ hours regularly. I recall seeing a Mortal Kombat making video that showed Ed Boon getting into the office at like 5 or 6am (an hour or two before the rest of the team) and not leaving until 8 or 9pm after the rest of the team left during crunch time every day.

Definitely, if you want to have your own hours and have a family then stay an indie developer in the US. I hope it really is a better industry everywhere else, but I know in the US they say that they work long hours because they "love video games". I love them too, but I love my wife and son more (plus you figure in the my wife and son are disabled).

I lost my confidence because I started in BASIC 19 years ago and then have been doing C++ for 17 years. I got into it to be a game programmer and had tons of ambition. After 12 years of being told I couldn't do it by other programmers at a library site I started doubting myself. Tons of people had faith in me and kept telling me I could do it unfortunately that came 11 years too late as the damage to my confidence had been done. I'm still happy though, I get to help beginners on C++ sites and give what limited knowledge I do have to others looking to get into programming and game development. It's been a long road, but I wouldn't change anything about it (granted I only made pong clones).

Sorry, I think I kind of derailed the thread with my ranting.